Senior aides to the King and Duke of Sussex have been pictured together in London in what is reported to be an initial step towards restoring the relationship between Harry and the rest of the royal family.
Images obtained by the Mail On Sunday show Meredith Maines, the duke’s chief communications officer, and Liam Maguire, who runs Harry and Meghan’s UK public relations team, meeting the King’s communications secretary Tobyn Andreae at the Royal Over-Seas League near Clarence House.
The Mail reports it is not known which side initiated the meeting, but a source told the paper: “There’s a long road ahead, but a channel of communication is now open for the first time in years.
“There was no formal agenda, just casual drinks. There were things both sides wanted to talk about.”
Both parties have been contacted for comment.
The rift between the Sussexes and the royal family opened significantly following their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, during which they alleged a member of the family was concerned about their son Archie’s skin tone before he was born.
Then the duke claimed in his controversial memoir, Spare, his brother the Prince of Wales had physically attacked him and that the King put his own interests above Harry’s and was jealous of Meghan.
Harry’s level of security changed in 2020 when he and Meghan stepped down as working royals and moved to California for financial and personal freedom, and he suggested the royal family and officials hoped his realisation of the increased safety risk “would force us to come back”.
The duke failed in an appeal against the dismissal of his High Court claim against the Home Office, over the decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of protection when in the UK.
In a BBC television interview after losing the latest round in his court battle over his security, Harry claimed the King will not speak to him and he does not know “how much longer my father has” as he spoke of his hopes for a “reconciliation” with his family.
Charles was diagnosed with cancer in February last year.
